One Loo, Toulouse!

Well it hasn't been THAT long really, and I've given you people video diaries, but I don't want to be a failure and start a blog and not keep it up! Alors...
I would just like to take a moment to reemphasise something which I have noticed about France: FOOD. I most definitely didn't give it the attention it deserved last post. Food is amazing, and it is everywhere! Jaimee would love the way these people cook! (Woo you like how well I slipped in your shout-out?) French people know how to eat! And WHAT to eat! I eat so much cheese here, oh how J'adore le fromage! Goats cheese, blue cheese, soft cheese, hard cheese, stinky cheese, brie, camembert, the only cheese they DON'T have is block cheese like back home (which isn't exactly heartbreaking...).
Anyway, back to food in general. The majority of people at school eat lunch at the cantine, but the cantine here bears absolutely NO resemblance to that of ol' KKC. Here, you can go to lunch anytime between 11:30-1:30 (dependant on your timetable). You have a swipey card which is pre-loaded with money, and you swipe it to get through the doors to the cantine. You then grab your tray, small glass, knife, fork and spoon. There are two counters to choose from (with the same food) or the stand in the middle which does the fries. You go along and get your entree (salad, pasta or fruit), then your vegetables, some sort of grain (rice cous cous etc) and your meat. Then there is a dessert, a cheese, a pot of youghurt, a piece of fruit AND a bread roll. I'm full just thinking about it! If the enormous lunch still leaves your tummy grumbling, you can always go to the "Maison Du Lyceen". This building is a sort of common room for students with free periods to come and study or just chill out. There are chairs, tables, a few computers and, most importantly, another cantine! This one serves sandwiches, toasties, croissants, pains aux chocolats, paninis, cookies, brownies, donuts, drinks and CHOCOLATE PANINIS. These things are freaking amazing. The bread isn't hard like a normal panini, it's all soft and nice. It's full of chocolate in the middle, and then when you buy it they grill it for you. So it's all soft and warm and melty and perfect! I really have to hold back on this one!

Anyhoo, that should probably be enough said for now eh! I've also done some stuff besides eating, such as going into town with friends when there are free periods. Town is great! The weather here is still reminiscent of Kiwi summer even though it's Autumn, although the mornings are a bit chilly. It's all frenchy, with cool buildings by the river, old museums and a cathedral (haven't got pictures of that yet) Here are some pictures from the other day:

 The bus stop at school

 Riverside stuff!

Speaking of town, the other Wednesday (school finishing at Midday) I went for a good as bike ride from Burlats to Castres (the outskirts) which is about 10km each way. It was real nice, warm but not murderously so, and exercise cannot be complained about! After that I cooled off by having a dip in the river. As you can probably tell, life is going pretty cruisily, I have no complaints! The other day at school I had a timetable gap of six hours! If a teacher isn't there, you just don't go to class. (Also, today there were strikes so I just didn't go to school, and tomorrow the Maths prof is absent so I'll only have one hour of lessons!) Every Friday we finish at 2pm, which I can't complain about! Additionally every friday we have two hours of sport, but I actually enjoy it! It's basketball and all the french girls are short so I get an advantage, it's awesome! Last Friday was doubly awesome cause I went to the rugby with a family friend, Jessica, she's awesome. It was the local team Castres Olympique, who won, and I loved it! (Though maybe I should be a bit ashamed that the first match I go to is in France, when I'm a Kiwi?) Watching the match geared me up for the next morning, yes people, the Big Game, especially for me: France vs NZ! The villagers had be hustling me up about it the whole week, but, no surprise, The ABs delivered in style! I got to watch the first part, but I was going to Toulouse for the weekend for a meet-up with AFS people. I did listen to the second half on the bus, though I didn't really understand too much.
Toulouse was pretty good, we were staying in a rustic little equestrian centre, although we didn't ride the horses! It was cool to meet up and see how everyone was going, and get to know our lovely volunteers! Oh and the food was fabulous! Thanks guys! (It always comes back to food with me, doesn't it?) We learnt Hakuna Matata in several languages (jealous, Fliss?) and generally had a nice time! Didn't see much of Toulouse but there is always time! I took the train back from Toulouse (awesome building, the station!) and that was way better than the bus.

Monday was pretty chilled day, and today (due to aforementioned strikes!) I had lots of free time. I went for a BIG walk along the river, conversed (and held a proper conversation) with some nice french ladies who were puffed like me (turns out the river path starts climbing the mountain!), ate a croissant and tried on French clothes! I have a friend in the village whose sister doesn't want any of her numerous pairs of (italian) heels, and heaps of beautiful clothes... I. Flippin'. Love. France!

Any questions? Big Love to all!
J
xxx

It's Been a While!

I thought I'd start with a picture of my room! Salut, tout le monde! Well there's quite a bit to update really, since I've just got dear sweet Jemima (my laptop) up and running with the internet!
Last update was just before starting school, and I was pretty nervous! But, as it turns out, school is great!
The first day Laure (host Mumsy) took me there and helped me buy my lunch card. My first impression of the school was the size! It's like a group of high-rise buildings. (Well, relatively high-rise). The school Principal talked to everyone in the foyer, and then the classes got called out in groups. I'm in Premier ES 1. Which is the equivalent of 6th form and studying in the Economy/Social Sciences stream. Which I guess doesn't sound too crash hot, but it's actually pretty good. The subjects are interesting and best of all there is only 1.5 h of science every two weeks! I also take Anglais (English, BEST class), Maths, Francais (incomprehensible), SPORT (yes, me!) and a few Eco/Social Science classes. At first I understood almost nothing, but I've just finished the second week of school, and my comprehension is definitely improving! Now the only class I take very little from is French (the Prof simply talks too fast for me!) In fact in Maths I worked out some of the stuff better than my class mates, and obviously English is a breeze.

As it turned out, the first person I tapped in the shoulder to ask for help was new like me, but unlike me she was French! Her name is Mallaury and she is super nice and lets me copy all her notes (because listening, comprehending and writing simultaneously just isn't gonna work for a wee while). So I pretty much made an instant friend, although conversation was pretty sparse at the start (due to my atrocious lack of French). The next morning I took the bus and as I got out I saw another one of my class mates. I have the tactic of going and greeting/clinging to any familiar face at the moment, because the school is rather vast! He introduced me to loads of people, and the majority of them gave me their numbers ("just call me if you have any problems!").
So what can I say? I love school, the people are amazingly nice! They are even more friendly than Kiwis.

Another brilliant aspect of school like is the number of gaps there are in our  timetable! There is a free bus from school to the middle of town, so sometimes we take that and have a drink together in a cafe. The weather at the moment is similar to that of NZ in mid-summer, so drinking a lemonade in the shade is always a relief. There is no rule against leaving school grounds when you don't have class, so its all pretty grand!

 Here are my friends (some of them) and I at school.

Aaaand again at the Cafe :)

There are a few differences between French and Kiwi culture which are pretty noteworthy, so I thought I'd explain a few of them:
1. Greetings: In Kiwiland our greeting consist of a "hello", a hug or wave, whereas here, everyone does something called "faire la bise". you may have heard of it, it's the "cheek kiss thing". Its actually pretty technical, each region in France has a specific way of doing it! For example, here, its always one kiss on each cheek, and ALWAYS starting on the right. Other areas do 3 and even 4 so I've heard. We "faire la bise" to say hello and goodbye, and when I get to school, there are always plenty of people to greet. Its not only for your close friends, but also for your classmates, friends of friends, and pretty much anybody in the vicinity of the person who you intended to faire la bise with! I think I'm going to have cheeks of steel by July! But it's not bad, I think that it's actually pretty sweet for people to acknowledge each other in this way.

2. In NZ, we think we're laid back. But have you seen France? Mufti is always worn to school, there are goths, hippies and all that jazz, and noone flickers an eye at facial piercings, even on the office staff! Teachers are free to wear what they want (including Guinness t-shirts) and everybody smokes! Which brings me to my next point:

3. Smoking: It's inherent in the culture here. You'd be hard pressed to find somebody over the age of 15 who doesn't smoke, at least occasionally. I know of 4, and I'm one of them! The school yard is littered with cigarette butts and you can't walk through a crowd without getting smoke blown in your face. People have the cigarette in their mouth as they walk out of class! But you get used to it pretty quickly. You have to adapt because if you're on an anti-smoking rage no one is going to talk to you! I guess it's just a cultural thing and you can't be too judgmental.

4. Meals: Are huge! And just as you think you're full, out come cheese and yogurt for dessert. And not just at dinner time, school lunches are a splendiferous affair! I have no idea how these french girls stay so skinny! (But it's okay, I'm going to take up "Musculation" (gym) with Mallaury!) In fact, on the note about french girls, not only are they skinny, but they are extremely tanned, have perfect skin and the average hair length is that of Jordan Godfrey (haha, are you stoked to get a mention?). Its not at all fair, but maybe as a very white, average weight, average skin toned Kiwi I can count as exotic? One can but hope!

5. Fashion: They do it classy here. It's simple but effective, and seems like it takes very little effort! Most people just wear jeans and a top, or very simple dresses. They seem to have figured out less is more, there are no boobs or bumcheeks on display and nobody tries too hard, the look is better for it!

6. The little things: The toilet paper is pink (sometimes). Their Fanta has actual orange juice in it! They love petanque and American music. The school paper is very strange! They drink mainly bottled water. They pay for tap water. The keyboards are different. There is no school on Wednesday afternoons. Any questions?

I think I've about talked myself out. Oh and I'm getting better at french little by little!
Much Love.
Ju
xx

Wowsers!

Note: I wrote this a couple of days back- will update soon (:

Well well well. I DO seem to have a lot to say. My last post was a wee while before I left so there is a bit of updating to do. First things first: Pre-departure:

Well on Wednesday day I went and spent time with my friend Matt, then went home to receive various visitors. (Thanks Jimmy for the gloves!) It was great having people come to visit and say goodbyes. Also I had to get around to finishing packing. Fliss and some of the Boyd clan came around with a beautiful cake for me, merci beaucoup guys! Then Bradley came, and so did Matt and Jon. We did some ruthless packing (I was a few kilos over) which was facilitated by the hard hearts of Fliss and Brad, and I think I went a bit feral giving my clothes away (I mean, if I’m not gonna wear them for 10 months, when am I gonna wear them?) Jon scored himself a sweet pair of onesies, he’d better use them well! Anyhoo after this we went for a power spa at Rachel’s place, and Aimee and Jaimee came too. That was good, I don’t know when I’m gonna feel the sweet, sweet waters of a spa again! After that bid farewell to the Van Rooyens and had a tearful goodbye to Fliss and Bradley. A stressful night’s sleep, but I got there.

The next morning up I got, and off we went to the airport. All went fine and dandy. In fact it went super dandy as the Singapore airlines lady checked my board in as Fragile which meant I didn’t have to lug it around 4 airports with me. As I soon discovered, enough lugging would ensue despite this. There was a group of 12 of us flying together, including 2 girls heading to Spain, so we got to have some fun times at the Singapore and Munich airports. We somehow even managed to make it outside Munich airport, even though we were in transit. It was all pretty lax! We farewelled the Spain girls at Munich and were soon on our final flight to Paris (which, might I add, had TERRIBLE air pressure!) Once we’d arrived at the Charles De Gaulle airport we waited at the luggage carousels with slightly bated breath. All was well however, and everybody’s stuff had made it through safely.

Now here is where the good part begins! We walked out through… Well through nothing much. There was no customs whatsoever. Anyhoo, we emerged and were met by a few AFS volunteers. French AFS volunteers are inexpressibly awesome. They are all really young and did AFS themselves, so they know the drill really well. Also they are super nice people with the best senses of humour. My thanks go out to them for making our arrival weekend so brilliant! We had to wait around a bit at the airport for all the students to arrive, and then we took a coach to our hostel. Once we got there we had to say goodbye to our suitcases for the weekend. Also, our rooms were still being cleaned so we had to wait around in what I must emphasise was SWELTERING heat until they were ready. That whole afternoon was pretty chillaxed as more groups arrived, and us Kiwi’s had a good laugh doing Rhys Darby impressions. It was great going around meeting people and making new friends.

The next day the 270-something of us were split into two groups, and half went on a Paris tour in the morning, and half in the afternoon, while the other group had an orientation meeting at the hostel. Our Paris tour was in the afternoon, and by this time we had made some good friends to enjoy it with. We just drove past most of the sights in the coach but we got out at the Eiffel Tower. Did I mention that it was another SWELTERING day? This did however allow us to do one of the coolest things ever! We went for a dip in the fountains in front of the Eiffel Tower! How awesome is that?

After that it was a bit more of a ride on the bus, then back to the hostel where I whipped out Colonel Max FightMaster (my longboard) and let some of the guys have a board up and down the driveway. Good times. That evening we had another orientation meeting and a mini-party on someone’s room then went to bed (I had to get up at 4:45am to be ready at 5:30).

As I said, got up and ready the next morning and headed to the train station. The lovely Cassandre was in charge of the group of us heading to Toulouse, and we all made it on the train safely. It was a bit of a hard choice between looking out the window at the French-Frenchiness and sleeping, but we did a bit of both. We were all pretty nervous arriving in at the Toulouse train station but our nerves were relieved when we met our families. My host parents, Chris and Laure, are super nice. We even managed to make a bit of conversation on the car ride home.  There is a lot of what they say that I can’t quite grasp, but I can get most of my points across and undertand a bit. Yesterday was harder than today, which I’m hoping means tomorrow will be even better.

Once we’d arrived at the new chez moi, we talked some stuff over and they showed me my room. It’s really cool and French, I shall put pictures up at some point! The whole village is really medieval and awesome! After dinner last night I called mum briefly and we went to a fair, which had HEAPS of rides. They were a bit more extreme than in old Kiwiland! I went on one with Chris, but I ended up vomiting before bed… Anyway the carnival atmosphere was brilliant! I want to go again! And I think France may well have a bit to offer with regard to French boys…

This morning I had a sleep in, had Brekky, lunch and am now in the process of setting up ma chambre. Later I’ll go photograph some of Burlats, and get ready for school tomorrow! Pray for me, I’m scared! Big love,

J

xx